Holiday Bake (Or No-Bake) Sale

Humdrum cookies are a thing of the past. It’s time to get your cookies noticed among the vast selection of sweet holiday treats. Whatever holiday happenings you have scheduled this year, be sure to bring along a few of these babies and finally get your mad baking skills noticed!

Sassy Snickerdoodles

These fun little cinnamon-laden cookies are about as easy to whip up as they are to pop in your mouth. Give ‘em some extra pizzazz with a pinch of sugary color.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. shortening

1 1/2 c., plus 2 tbsp. white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt to create the dough.

In a separate dish, mix together the 2 tbsp. sugar and cinnamon. Roll balls of the dough in the sugar/cinnamon mixture. For holiday flair, mix in festive colored sprinkles (we’re thinking these could be a hit at a New Year’s party if you decked them out in something unexpected, like silver and purple.)

Place cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 8 -10 minutes, or until set, but not too hard. Remove the cookies immediately from the baking sheets.

Serve and celebrate!

 

Gluten-free, Grain-free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

No matter what you eat (or don’t eat), these cookies will ensure you eat sweet.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. canned chickpeas (yep, chickpeas), well-rinsed and patted dry

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c., plus 2 tbsp. natural peanut butter (regular peanut butter will make the cookies too oily)

1/4 c. honey or agave

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Throw all the ingredients, except the chocolate chips, into a food processor and mix until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips with a spoon.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

The mixture will be sticky, so wet your hands and roll the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Lightly press cookies onto the baking sheet 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Serve and be surprised at how great chickpea cookies can be.

Adapted from a recipe found at http://nutritiontwins.com

No-Bake Bourbon Balls

It could be said that my first taste of liquor came in the form of these adult “cookies.” When I was a kid, I was only allowed to have one a day. Now that I’m grown, I throw in an extra splash of bourbon for good measure.

Ingredients:

One 12-oz. package of vanilla wafers (finely crushed)

1 c. confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar for those of you, who like me, didn’t know)

1 c. pecans (finely chopped)

1/4 c. light corn syrup

2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 c. bourbon

1/2 c. granulated sugar

Preparation:

Thoroughly mix together all ingredients, except the sugar, in a large bowl. Shape the mixture into 1-inch balls.

Put the sugar in a separate dish (feel free to mix in pretty sprinkles for fun.) Roll the balls in the sugar.

Store the bourbon balls in a tightly covered container for at least 3 days before serving to let the flavors mellow.

These keep up to 2 weeks if stored in a tightly covered container.

Cheers!

Recipe courtesy of my mother. 

- Biz Farrell, freelance food writer and humble gourmand